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EPA is fighting environmentalists' claim that a landmark decision on a Utah coal-fired power plant's Clean Air Act permit represents a broader unlawful reversal of the agency's policy on issuing “Title V” permits, arguing in a new legal brief that the Utah permit decision is not a “nationally applicable” rulemaking eligible for judicial review.

EPA is proposing to retain the Obama-era mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) for power plants but scrap the cost-benefit analysis underpinning the rule, teeing up a legal fight in which the rule's supporters will likely cite flaws in the plan while opening the door for critics to cite the lack of a cost finding to bolster their calls to undo the entire rule.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is rejecting calls by backers of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule to issue a decision on the merits in the long-paused litigation over the rule, and is instead continuing to hold the case in abeyance while the Trump EPA crafts its narrow replacement policy.

A subtle split is emerging in the oil and gas sector over the scope of EPA's efforts to roll back Obama-era methane standards for the industry, with smaller producers arguing the plan does not go far enough and should indefinitely defer rules for low-production wells while larger firms are embracing some level of regulation for existing equipment.

Environmentalists have filed their opening brief in a suit contesting provisions in the Obama EPA's utility mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) addressing emissions limits during power plant “startup” periods, amid uncertainty over the fate of MATS in the agency's imminent proposed reconsideration of the 2012 regulation.

EPA's imminent proposal on reconsidering the Obama-era power plant mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) will float a host of options from rescinding the rule outright by undoing its cost-benefit analysis to “tinkering” with parts of the rule, sources say, and the agency will then use public input on the options to decide on a final outcome.